In this episode, I talk about the truth that friendships shift. Some fade. Some burn bright. Some last a season, and some feel older than this lifetime. I share what it was like to lose a twenty year friendship and what it means to grieve someone who is still alive.

I read a poem about soul tribes and speak about the friendships that returned, the ones that drifted, and the ones I am still learning to repair. I also talk about new connections. The ones that arrive suddenly. The ones that feel like home. The ones that remind you that friendship can be simple and natural and good.

I name the moment I realized I was not a safe place for someone I loved and the growth that followed. This episode is a reflection on change, connection, and the grace of letting people come and go.

Unscripted. Unfiltered. Real.

In this episode, I talk about two very different encounters with men. One who was threatened by my presence and reacted with anger. And another who rushed to hold the door for me with ease and joy.

I share how small moments become mirrors. How they reveal what is wounded in our world and what is still alive and well. I talk about my husband, about kindness, about chivalry, and about how a simple open door reminded me that good men still exist and they are everywhere.

This is a story about energy, softness, safety, and the way we show up for each other in ordinary moments. Unscripted. Unfiltered. Full of heart.

This is a story about how a song cracked open an old wound and handed me back to myself.
Ho’oponopono taught me that forgiveness is not a return to someone... it is a return to the truth within you.
It showed me that the people who hurt us often initiate the versions of ourselves we were born to become.
This episode is my offering of freedom, compassion, and the courage to love yourself through your own becoming.

https://youtu.be/9eOWm12w7N8?si=ZY2pbnBfxZpskVQf

Dating 105 is for men and women... it's for those who are single, those who are dating, those who are not dating, and it might ESPECIALLY be for the married folks who forgot that dating your spouse still matters. I talk about the beauty and mayhem of the dating world, point you toward the true love (dating) expert @shayyourlovediva, and read a few real messages from people out there navigating it all. I also may or may not have stumbled across someone who felt like a psycho stalker serial killer while searching for examples… so buckle up. This one is honest, funny, and as always rooted in unapologetic love.

This episode is a reflection on the ones who love, lift, and pour without ever pausing to notice whether anyone pours back into them. It’s dedicated to the ones who pour without measure.

Many givers never think about reciprocity… they simply show up because it is who they are. But every now and then, a moment of clarity arrives and asks a tender question… who speaks over the one who speaks over everyone else? If you have ever been the steady one, the strong one, the encourager in every room, this conversation may feel like recognition. It is an invitation to see your own heart with new eyes.

From sunrise to 1:52am today… yesterday was a BIG ONE that pushed me to PROCLAIM who I am becoming. In this episode I share the beach moment, the breakthrough, and the choice to stop waiting for permission and lead myself forward. It is a reminder that the path appears when you choose to walk it. And an invitation for you to show up as your fullest, truest self… unapologetically. Sprinkled in, there's also humor as only I deliver it and a few special fireworks, too! Come on in! AND FOLLOW ME! Spotify users enjoy the video...

In this spontaneous, salt-kissed episode, I let the ocean pull the truth out of me. I talk about permission… how I used to wait for it, beg for it, shrink for it… and how I finally decided that the only “yes” I need is mine. The crashing waves do their work to drown out all the other noise and help me discover myself.

I explore the emotions that rise when you start discovering who you actually are beneath all the layers and old fears. The “too much,” the “too loud,” the “too anything”… all of it dissolving like footprints in the tide.

I reflect on a couple songs and I share my wish for you… to be seen and… well… you’ll have to tune in to hear the rest.

In this late-night episode I show up wearing my son’s crown and my fanciest earrings, because sometimes motherhood hands you props you didn’t know you needed and somehow they fit the moment perfectly. I talk about modeling (the parenting kind and the very reason I had to buy him a whole set of crowns) and the way parenting keeps growing me in real time.

I share someone else's post on contempt in relationships and other posts as well as my desire to maybe start my own Dungeons and Dragons group. I don’t go too deep into that here because it deserves its own episode later, but the longing is real.

And of course, I get emotional. I read a post aloud about not giving up and my emotions stir. The reminder hits me again. Keep going. Your breakthrough, your testimony, your becoming is on the other side of the moment you want to quit.

As ever... real, tender, crown-topped, and truth-filled!
Episode 53.

Raw. Warm. Chaotic. Holy.This episode is me and my cousin Isha, as promised (though later than anticipated), recording on the way to the airport, the sun blazing straight into our eyeballs! The littles are talking in the background, sometimes louder than us, and finally drifting into their own little dreamworlds… but that’s the beauty and chaos of life- it never pauses for the perfect moment, so we don’t either.We talk about family, love, the ache of distance (between us), the joy of finding your people in this world and playing cards. If you can hang in there, over the voices of toddlers and an air conditioning vent, you'll find this episode is unfiltered, unedited, unscripted... just the way real life always is.This is a small, sun-drenched, sleepy-kids, heart-full slice of us… me and Isha… before the goodbye neither of us wanted.

In this episode I let myself breathe.
I let myself sit in the quiet.
I let the pauses linger longer than usual because I am learning that silence is not failure. It is permission. It is presence. It is the moment where the real truth rises.

I talk about the burden of always performing. The constant pressure to be the strong one, the wise one, the graceful one, the woman who always knows what to say (and perfectly chooses how to do so). I release that in real time and speak as a soul who is tired of pretending and yearning for something deeper and even... something LESS than the burden societal's expectations offer.

I explore the roles we inherit as women and men, the expectations placed on marriages, the weight we carry when we want to be perfect but know we are... in fact... human. I admit the guilt I feel when I fall short and I honor the part of me that is trying anyway.

This episode is imperfect. Honest. Slow. Contemplative.
It is proof that you can be powerful and still need rest.
It is proof that being real is more valuable than being polished.

Episode 51 is a moment of truth telling.
A moment of softness.
A moment where I allow myself to just... BE!

Today’s video is a love letter to a woman I have not met YET but instantly recognized in spirit. Katrena: a daughter-in-waiting in San Diego who went online and offered her heart to the world, asking for a Black mom to reveal herself so she could adopt her with tenderness, intention, honor and daughterly love.

Her message was vulnerable. Brave. Unfiltered in the most beautiful way. It was the most wholesome thing I saw yesterday and it touched me in a place beyond language.

In this episode I speak directly to her and also to every soul watching. I share pieces of who I am to her, the way her sincerity moved me, and why her willingness to show up with love deserves to be seen. I recite a large portion of her request because it deserves amplification. It deserves light. It deserves to be held with reverence.

This is an homage to a stranger who feels like kin... and just maybe a future cousin if my AMAZING ISHA is able to be adopted as her black mom. ;)
This is a validation of a woman choosing love with her whole chest.
This is a recognition of a beautiful soul in a world that desperately needs more like her.

Sending her and YOU so much love.

In today’s episode I continue the conversation of becoming. Becoming aware. Becoming intentional. Becoming the author of the thoughts I choose and the words I release into the world. I offer new questions to sit with, questions that invite you to notice the places where your inner voice is loving you and the places where it might be limiting you.

I talk about gratitude as we move through this season, but I honor the truth that not everyone feels grateful right now. Some are grieving. Some are lonely. Some are navigating life without the people they once leaned on. This episode holds space for the beauty and the ache together.

I share moments where even I slip and say things that do not serve my highest self, and I use them as reminders that awareness is power and choice is available in every breath.

I urge you to never settle, to refuse the small version of your life, to rise into the version of you that feels fully expressed and fully alive. This is an invitation to stand boldly in your truth, to love yourself fiercely, and to remember that your life is yours to shape.

Unscripted. Unfiltered. Raw. Real.

In this next chapter of the series, I go deeper into the truth that your thoughts and beliefs are creating your reality in real time. I invite you to check what you have been thinking, to record it, and to measure it against the life you say you want. Not with judgment, but with clarity, curiosity, and power.

I offer new questions to help you see yourself with intention and to align your inner world with the future you are calling in.

And as a beautiful bonus, I introduce someone precious to my heart: my cousin Isha, whose warmth, humor, and grounded spirit add a magic all her own.

As always, it is unscripted, unfiltered, raw and emotional at times.
A continuation of choosing yourself, crowning yourself, and creating your life from the inside out.

In this episode, I show up exactly as I am… crown on, heart open, spirit steady. Bold. Unapologetic. Fully me.

I talk about mindset and the power it holds. The importance of watching what you think, what you say, and what you quietly believe about yourself. I share simple ways to shift your inner world, including the practice of expressing gratitude to your own body. Thanking your heart for beating. Thanking your blood for moving. Thanking every part of you that has carried you this far.

I remind you that you can create your reality.
Not someday.
Not when circumstances change.
Now.

I also speak honestly about showing up in ways that may feel silly or pretentious to others because I am wearing a crown, because I am choosing to love myself out loud, because I am embracing the parts of me I once hid. I name the things I love about myself, and in doing so, I extend an invitation to you.

What do you love about yourself?
How can you speak to your body with more gratitude?
How can you talk yourself into a life that feels like love?

This episode is a reminder that you are allowed to take up space, to honor yourself, and to rise into the fullness of who you are.

This one feels like a confession. A talk-to-you-as-if-you-are-my-diary moment. I share some things I usually avoid saying aloud. The thoughts, the ache, along w/ the tiny joys. I share TV and movies recs and the power of music in my life... that it can lift me, break me open, or breathe life back into me.

And I tell the truth:
I AM FIGHTING FOR MY LIFE.

Not in a dramatic way, but in a choosing-myself kind of way. In a I-could-have-crawled-into-bed-but-I-showed-up-here-instead kind of way. In a I-am-recording-this-episode because the old me would have quit, hidden, or shut down… but this version of me refuses to disappear.

This is diary-style, heart-wide-open, no-pretense MelindaDawn.
A moment of me holding space for myself in real time.

If you have ever fought to keep going, to keep creating, to keep showing up when everything in you wanted to retreat, this one is for you.

This episode was never meant to be shared this early.
It was supposed to be a private video, an archive for a future audience, a behind the scenes moment I thought I would keep to myself. But life… but God… but the I AM within me… had other plans...

to be deeply human, deeply honest, deeply me.

Somewhere between my tears, my daughter coming outside with a mouthful of chocolate (still unclear whether her daddy said yes or not), the bird poop on the chair, and me teaching basic tapping points to you as I work to calm my own nervous system… something real cracked open.

This is the true me.
Not a highlight reel.
Not a finished/polished version.

Just me... crying, talking around what I’m navigating, finding myself in teacher-mode a time or to and ultimately, deciding to let you in anyway... now, rather than later.

If you have ever felt overwhelmed, alone, or unsure whether to hide or heal… this one is for you.

This episode is a love letter…
a soft-spoken tribute to the man who continues to choose me,
to choose us,
to choose the quiet, sacred work of becoming the best version of himself.

In this audio-only montage, I read poetry
and speak from the deepest chambers of my heart...
about confidence, partnership, tenderness,
and the kind of love that grows two people at the same time.

Jacob is often my safe place, my steady ground, and the quiet champion behind so much of who I’ve become.
While I’ve stepped into my light,
he has been doing the unseen work of stepping into his.
And together, we rise.

This is a thank you,
a confession,
a celebration,
and a vow:
that I honor him and I love him in ways he may never fully know.

This episode is for him.

Today (technically yesterday), I sit before you wearing a crown... not as decoration, but as declaration!
I recite Marianne Williamson’s iconic words, and for the first time in my life,
I realize…
I have become the living embodiment of that poem.

I am no longer afraid of my light.
I am no longer shrinking so others feel comfortable.
I am done playing small.

Neuroscientists suggest that people who cry easily aren’t weak...
they’re emotionally intelligent leaders
with deep empathy, heightened perception,
and a nervous system so attuned to truth
that the body speaks before the mind can edit.

If that’s you? Welcome home.

In this episode, I invite you to shine so brightly your radiance becomes a permission slip for the whole world to add its light instead of darkness.

TRIGGER WARNING:

Before you choose to listen or watch, this episode is not for everyone. Here, we speak with raw honesty about experiences that are extremely difficult, painful, and potentially triggering for many. Not even I was prepared for where Michelle’s story went in real time, but what you see is me holding space for her gently, without judgment, without shame, all while she shares things she has rarely spoken aloud.

This episode includes explicit language and discusses:

child rape/molestation

sexual assault

pregnancy by rape

childhood abuse, neglect

drug use, addiction, overdose

suicide/murder/decapitation

partner/domestic violence

human trafficking

name-calling

and other heavy, graphic, or traumatic themes not fully listed here.

I want to be clear:

This is not an episode for someone who is sensitive to profanity or who may be actively healing from any of the experiences mentioned above. If listening would make you feel unsafe in your mind, your body, or your spirit, please skip this episode without guilt- your personal safety and well-being is more important than my podcast analytics.

There is a soft intro at the start designed to help you decide. Please use it.

This episode IS for someone who understands that the world can be dark and that dark things are done by dark and hurting people.

It’s also for those who have never had anyone safe to tell their own story to… someone who needs to know:

You were never the only one.

Your pain is not imaginary.

Your story matters.

This episode is two humans, humaning- imperfect, honest, vulnerable, refusing to sweep hard truths under the rug.

It is not here to entertain, though parts of it might be funny.

It is here to witness, to validate, and to give permission for conversations that are usually silenced.

Loss. Fortune. Boundaries. Laughter. Peace.
Today’s episode is a whole sermon whispered from my soul to yours.

I talk about the strange way life can hand you heartbreak and blessing in the same breath. How AI can be a beneficial partner in life providing insights into marriage, business, family, etc.

It's an invitation to choose peace. And an acknowledgment to choose the version of you who no longer sacrifices your sanity for relationships that refuse to grow or that grow only in discord.

This one is for anyone who’s ever held onto someone out of obligation… and finally realized the cost was their own breath.

Sometimes the holiest yes…is the one you whisper to yourself.
And sometimes the most loving no…is the one you offer to someone “close” who no longer has access to your time or your heart.

Tune in, breathe deep, and take the win of peace.

Unapologetically Yours.